Just West of Weird
by VanillaSpiders
Summary: A collection of oneshots based off prompts. From ghoulies and ghosties, and long-leggedy beasties, to things that go bump in the night, you best be prepared for what you find in Gravity Falls. Fluff, angst, Cipherpines, au, and more can be found here.
1. And Demons Behaved

_**Author: **__Hello there! Here is simply a collection of all the Gravity Falls oneshots I've written so far, in one neat convenient little collection for you to read! Please feel free to leave your own prompts for this series in a review if you'd like.__This is the very first thing I'd ever written for GF._

_**Prompt:**__ Does Bill's fondness for the twins give them any kind of unnatural life span (meaning they have to watch others around them getting old) __or does Bill have to deal with them aging (at what must seem like a super fast rate to him)?_

* * *

_**And Demons Behaved**_

If you had told Bill Cipher half of what was going to happen when he first started getting attached to the Pine Twins, he would have laughed so hard his hat fell off. And then he had have given you nightmares with nothing but giant spiders and taking tests in your underwear for the next six years of your pathetic human life. He was that kind of demon you see, and he was a very good one. He did his job, did it well. And above all, enjoyed making deals and using humans are cute little puppets.

He'd just never encountered _these_ humans before.

Well, maybe he had, long ago. When you were Bill Cipher and you knew everything, it was hard to remember what had and hadn't happened yet.

At first, it wasn't a problem. Maybe a bit of an annoyance, but hardly a thing that required his attention.

Pine Tree was nosy. Shooting Star was obnoxious. And glittery.

He had no reason to think otherwise.

Until suddenly he _did_.

Bill's mind was in complete chaos after he realized how attached he was to these little runts. Normally, he liked chaos. Not this kind. This wasn't right. This wasn't how things were supposed to go (Except, yes they were. Exactly.) When they were happy, it was contagious and he found himself cheerful. They enjoyed his stories and he found himself, to his disgust, tagging after Pine Tree like a puppy. Mabel knitted him a sweater. They pranked Grunkle Stan together, and unraveled the many mysteries behind the Journals. When one had a nightmare and called for him, he came, without thinking. Anyone who made the mistake of harming his twins was met with Cipher's bottomless wrath and all the protectiveness of a mother bear, backed by demonic powers. No amount of Bill's fighting or feigned ignorance had stopped him from getting far too attached to the Pines siblings. He knew it was going to happen, and yet hadn't really done all he could to stop it, had he?

It felt like it happened over night, to be honest.

Pine Tree was curious. Bright, but in a different way than his sister. Clever and surprisingly fierce when his protectiveness over his family was provoked. Dipper's mind was dangerous. Bill _liked_ that.

Shooting Star was loud, but friendly. Hopeful and sunny and adamant in not throwing the bedazzled towel in too soon, if she could help it. Bill _admired_ that.

Mabel bedazzled Bill's cane once. He got another one right after, but instead of destroying the glittery cane kept it to use when he felt like it. He didn't say thank you—because demon's don't say thank you.

But he didn't get rid of it.

Against his better judgment and every fiber of his being telling him he knew better, Bill completely and utterly failed Demon 101. Which was of course, never _ever_ get close to your targets. They hadn't even been targets until he decided so. (Or had something decided for him? He couldn't remember.)

He _does_ remember what happened after they became friends.

Time became a bitch, and it sped up.

Horrifically fast, if you ask Bill. One blink, and his kids were in their 20's. Another blink, and 40's. 50's. 60's. 80's.

Bill Cipher was mortified when he realized his children had grown up around him like pine trees in the forest. Where had his bite-sized human children run off too this time? Why had those summers gone so fast—why was Mabel sporting silver hair and Dipper needed glasses? It was only a second ago that they…

Bill wanted them back. They had _no right_ to leave him. He hadn't given them his permission. They'd broken the rules of their unspoken deal. And that was, 'You are mine. You will always be mine. I will take care of you. And you will be with me.'

Deal.

At first, Dipper and Mabel had laughed at him softly, teased him a bit over his sudden realization toward their old age. But they sobered up when they realized he was completely serious. And a bit heartbroken, if they were reading between the lines right. (After a lifetime knowing a demon, they were both keen spotters of lies and fibs and knew what they heard in the demon's hurt voice was something deeper, thicker and painful.)

Bill had come to terms with their age, after much coddling and coaxing from his twins. Out of the blue, Mabel was often taking the hand of a gentleman with yellow hair and an even yellower suit. He would help her up and let her use his arm to shuffle where ever she needed to be. She smiled at him, and he smiled back, though it was much more strained. Bill and Dipper started a game of Chess that went on for hours. They kept track of the wins and losses. At his best, Dipper tied with a demon so much that they'd given up the sport altogether. Now, they were back at it, and the odds were uneven again. Bill won chess more and more often, but at the same time felt like he was losing something. He didn't figure it out until it was too late.

For a moment, for one beat of his black soul things were almost better again, like they'd used to be.

Then the twins…they got…worse.

Did you know? Human minds _deteriorate_. Bodies, too.

At first, Bill never noticed humans doing it. When he did, he was highly amused at such a weakness. Then the novelty wore off and he forgot about this illness altogether. This was sometime around 1705, when Bill Cipher the Dream Demon finally discovered the dying process. So he'd pretty much put it from his mind by the time his moment with the twins rolled around.

Now, as Mabel began misplacing things and Dipper's eyesight got worse, Bill hated this weakening business. He loathed it. He got angry, and shouted and yelled and was careful to never have a tantrum near his twins. He feared what they'd say or think if they knew their childhood protector was behaving in such a way.

Their hands shook. They forgot things, places, people, names. Stumbled. Had bruises on their tired, fading flesh. Squinted to see and had the tv on loud, like Stan used to.

Bill couldn't help but watch on, feeling more and more useless with each passing day.

Mabel could no longer stand.

Dipper forgot how to play chess.

Then, one day, they both became unable to see their demon altogether.

Demons of course, and the magical-like, didn't _exist_.

Bill didn't know the demonic equivalent to a broken heart, but he knew he was feeling it then.

Thankfully, Dipper and Mabel had been of sound mind before this. And they told Bill things. Asked him. Suggested. Promised they loved him and their children and grandchildren would love him too, if only he behaved and gave them a chance. Didn't scare them too much. Tucked them in, gave them sweet dreams. All the things he used to do for the twins so long ago, Bill was asked to at least continue with the Pine's siblings family.

He'd done what they'd asked of course. Been a good little demon and outright _obeyed_ them, partly out of fear Mabel would do what she'd threatened if he didn't. (Which was come back as a squirrel and chew up his hat, apparently.) And partly because he really had loved them so much that by the end of it he loved their kids, too. Humans had weird little offspring that kept going, and for the most part, history likes to repeat itself.

Bill had done what he could manage without getting too depressed about it all. Granted, it hadn't been much looking back. What was a couple hundred years in his life? It didn't amount to much, in term of round figures.

But then fuck, why did it hurt so much when they left him? What _right_ did they have, to go away where he couldn't follow? How dare they leave him! That was problem with befriending good little souls. He was mad at them, at first. When Mabel passed away first, Dipper had followed not 5 minutes later. He was across the state; the siblings were still close but had their own lives. And what lives they'd _had_, surrounded by offspring, by little grandchildren who adored them and children who made sure they were comfortable until they passed in their sleep. Their lives had, for the most part, been remarkably good. Bill shouldn't be looking Fate in the eye and challenging her too much.

He remembered their deaths with startlingly clarity. And Bill remembered their last two sleeps. He had given it to them, as a goodbye gift. For a few moments, until their bodies gave out, Mabel and Dipper dreamed of being children. They dreamed of the soft glow of the summers living in the attic, and the creatures and monsters and demons they encountered, fought, and befriended. And for the shortest of moments they were back in Gravity Falls, and the year was 2013, and the Mystery Shack still stood and it said 'Mystery Hack' really, and Grunkle Stan had the tv too loud. And Soos was fixing something, and the world was sweet and honey golden and the carpet was worn but familiar. And the Journal was being poured over and Dipper was mumbling to himself about it, and Mable was playing with Waddles on the floor and…

And it ended. Just like that. _They_ ended.

Mabel slipped from Bill's fingers. Dipper followed. Neither of them seemed angry or scared to go, and sometimes Bill wished they had shown some negative emotion. If they were scared, he could have swooped in and saved them like he'd always done. If they didn't want to go, maybe he could have made a deal with Death. Maybe he could have done the impossible.

Those two certainly had done the impossible enough.

Up here, high on top of this hill among gravestones Bill Cipher decided he'd done the best he could, given the circumstances. It's not every day a demon falls in love with children. Certainly not every day said demon willingly stays with them, cultivating some twisted form of what Bill could only pin down as affection. He'd tried to make them happy. It had taken some work, but by the time they were elderly and dying, he'd learnt enough to feel desolate remorsefulness at not being able to hear Dipper's voice or see Mabel's smile. He'd tried his best though. And in the end, that's all that ever mattered to those two.

So he stays up here, on his little hill with Dipper and Mabel on either side. Mabel can see the pond below and Dipper's got a nice view of the stars. He was glad, if they had to end up dead and gone somewhere, it was a nice cemetery like this. Stanford is somewhere, maybe to his right. Bill isn't sure. He isn't going to move from his spot to check. It's a family plot, but Bill was only really ever interested in his kids anyway.

The gorgeous tangerine sunset that spread over the little valley of graves was just coming back to him as something beautiful, instead of the reminder of an end.

After they had died, Bill Cipher went back to being a demon.

After, Bill Cipher had said 'never again' and moved on.

But no one around him dreamed for a while.


	2. Paved With Good Intentions

_**Prompt:**__If Bill were able to convince older!Twins to make some kind of deal with him for dream demon education (secrets of the universe, infinite cute sweaters, etc) would he wind up, intentionally or not, being a corrupting influence?_

* * *

_**It's Paved with Good Intentions**_

At first, no one thought it would become that much a problem.

No one seemed bothered when the first signs started cropping up, either, come to think of it.

Dipper was surprisingly nonchalant, saying he could stop any time he wanted too. Mabel was the more realistic of the two, in that she commented simply didn't mind. And Dipper had always been a bit more impressionable than his sister, in all honesty. Soos didn't notice. Wendy neither.

Even Stan seemed okay with it.

Which, really, should have been their first clue something was seriously wrong. Or at least headed in that direction.

The Pines twins had made a deal with a devil, you see.

Not a very bad one. Nothing as crazed ad that twerp Gideon's had been. There's was an innocent, hopeful, do-it-for-the-greater-good sort of deal. But it was a deal nonetheless. They only wanted to know secrets and tools of trade for what it meant to be a Dream Demon. In return, Bill was with them always. He had things he wanted, of course. Like soda, sweaters, a little nest on Dipper's bedside table he could curl up in at night and get some rest. He was given automatic access to their Dreamscapes, which he actually didn't use for anything bad. It was much easier for his kids to sleep through the night having good dreams instead of nightmares.

And as much as Bill would like to say it had been his plan all along, he really, truly, couldn't take the credit for it what started happening to Dipper and Mabel.

Because the twins became a little _too_ corrupted after a while.

The problem was, no one noticed, not even their demon, until they went back home. Well, home was Gravity Falls. But this other home, with parents and school and homework and responsibilities? Was like a poison in their minds and the young kids that had started growing up wild in the Oregon woods behind the Mystery Shack, only grew up more wild and just a tad mean.

No one seemed to understand them. Except Bill of course, who was always with them. Even if no one could see him. Or hear him. And at school, kids made fun of the twins. Mabel was alright, but then, she'd always been able to stand up for herself with no problem. Though as a growing boy, Dipper got a bit more of the punishment by the ever fair high school justice system.

Unable to lash out, Dipper drew in on himself. Which made Bill annoyed and mad at his kid's tormentors, so he got revenge for them. it was with every intent to please, of course. He wanted his Pine saplings nice and happy, like they were back in Gravity Falls. Where everyone was weird and you could talk to think air and not be judged.

From there, things only got worse. Because once you begin to go downhill, you start to pick up speed.

Mabel no longer let things slide off her back. She was sickeningly sweet to you like molasses until you realized your hair was glued to your back or the answers to next week's test was hiding in plain sight in your bag for the teacher to find. She lost track of how many students she got expelled or at the very least, in detention. And she was not above using her knowledge, or Bill's powers, to get her retribution.

And Dipper? Dipper, unfortunately, was the exact opposite. In the bad way. His curiosity became overridden by fear, fear of the unknown. The ability to fight back that Stan had worked so hard to nurture over the summer dwindled into dying embers and went out all together one cold, rainy night.

Then, to everyone's horror, it came back. In the wrong ways.

Because lying in that back alley curled up, hurting and finding it hard to catch his breath, and getting rained on, something _snapped_ in Dipper. He didn't know what it was. Maybe it was part of Cipher, still hanging around in his Mindscape. Maybe it was his own powers, brought out by the close relationship with a demon. Maybe it was nothing at all, and Dipper had imagined the whole thing.

Maybe, it was just Dipper. Whatever it was, it made his eyes go red. And it made him stand up, and told him that 'pain is hilarious' and upon that realization Dipper had focused on his attackers and well, had fought back.

Two went to the hospital with physical injuries.

One went to a psychiatric ward with mental injuries.

The last one, that's how Bill began realizing something had possibly, just a little, gone horribly wrong.

Upon closer inspection, he realized how delicious bad his little kids had become. Well, they weren't so little anymore. Bill at first, thought this was just fine.

Then things got weird.

Mabel started doing drugs.

Dipper go violent at random intervals. There was almost no way to read him.

They were shunned from high school society and often made plans in the night to hitchhike back to Gravity Falls, where they knew their Uncle would take them in and let them get away with murder.

Of course, not that they'd _actually_ murder anyone. Ha ha.

But if they did….no, best not talk about it now.

"Are you sure you should be doing this, Pine Tree?" was a question Bill often asked as he floated after his human. Or,

"I don't think this is a good idea, Double S." was another one.

He was ignored. Mabel dropped out of school, and got a shitty job at a pizza place. Dipper stayed in school, and worked a part time job, but he was never really into his teachings in the first place, since Cipher had taught him everything he needed to know about the real world.

Then, as if things couldn't get worse, their parents told them their Uncle had died.

Dipper and Mabel ran away, into the night. And when the sun did come up, they were hidden from sight by their ever loyal demon. Traveling was hard on both of them, but they did it. Clearly the two were miserable but they grinned in an unnerving way. Cipher saw things on that desert road he'd never think his kids would encounter. He refused to let them get rides from certain strangers that offered them some quick travel.

And when _Bill_ started saying 'no' he immediately became like everyone else in the twin's life. They yelled and shouted and rebelled, accusing the demon of trying to stop them, of never letting them get what they wanted.

If nothing changed from this moment on, Cipher shuddered to think what would happen to his Pine twins. As far as he could tell, (and he _did_ know everything) this could end in jail, or death, or…or worse.

And when Bill was in Hell doing something or other for a brief moment, and the Devil congratulated him on a job well down twisting his latest two, pure little souls, Bill felt anger flare. He hadn't _meant_ to do that. He'd wanted the kids to have good lives. For them to be happy. If it meant doing things that made Bill grossed out from their cuteness, niceness, so be it. But this wasn't about him or the quota he had to fill. Any day of the week he'd go and corrupt Gideon, or even Stan. (Neither would really take much of a push.) But the Twins weren't ever supposed to be a challenge. Bill hadn't meant to.

This of course, meant nothing. The other demons laughed at him. Demons are always demons, after all. Can't change that, Bill. Ashamed and angry, the Dream Demon had fled back upstairs and found it to be night time, his twins asleep on the desert floor in the shadow of an old building. As he went to wedge himself snuggly into Dipper's arms, he saw something in the dimming moonlight that made him pause and pull back.

Faded white. Splotches of red. Stains, dark and mottled on the bandages wrapped up and down Pine Tree's pale, skinny little arm.

_Oh_.

For the first time in his life, Bill Cipher didn't see this pain as hilarious.

Floating above their prone forms, grim and quiet, Bill did some soul searching in the dark, moonless night. He gave the twins on final, good dream, and then left. This had gone so _wrong_. And it was only going to get worse, that much was obvious.

So, Bill Cipher decided to do them all a favor, and hit a huge rest button on their lives.

It wasn't that hard, he knew everything. Finding a way to go back in time was easier than pretty much anything he could have done.

In the span of 5 minutes, Dipper and Mabel found themselves back in Gravity Falls. They were young, smart and kind. And, more importantly, had their whole lives ahead of them, and knew nothing of what had happened. That was part of the new deal, after all. Bill watched over them quietly, waiting for his cue.

And this time, Bill Cipher was extra careful to play the bad guy. Just as it should have been.


	3. Darkest Hours

_**Prompt**__: What about Dipper getting fatally hurt and Bill has a complete breakdown but eventually gets himself together and saves Dipper at the last minute?_

* * *

_**Darkest Hours **_

"Pine Tree? Get _up_, Pine Tree!"

No answer.

"You're not fooling anyone, kid! Answer me when I talk to you!"

Again, no answer.

The words are short and sharp, Bill's aggravated and letting it show. His eye was flickering to red as he floats down toward the ground, and the body lying on it. When Dipper didn't answer him, just remained lying face down like a puppet with its strings cut, Bill's barking tone faltered and he simply moved faster to the kid's side. Something akin to worry was festering in the area where humans had stomachs.

"Ohh, c'mon. Don't be like that. Face it now, William." Chided a voice, thick with accent and obvious glee. Bill spared a half hearted glance in Gideon's direction as the man-child sauntered out of the smoke trails. The ones Dipper had just been blasted from, thrown like a rag doll against a thick oak with hardly a warning from Gideon's attack.

It hadn't been a fair shot, Cipher knew that. He wished he'd been closer to the kid, so he could have warned him, or reflected the attack or maybe even taken it. He wished he didn't have to see Dipper hit the bark so hard, or hear his body crunch sickeningly or the little grunt of pain Dipper uttered, eyes knitted shut. Then, Dipper's face had relaxed and his eyes had rolled up. And he'd fallen, dropping lifelessly to the grass and tree litter, without much fanfare. It wasn't dramatic it was terrifying, to be honest. Dipper shouldn't be down just from one little hit, should he?

Either way, Dipper was still where he'd fallen, on his stomach with his head turned to the left, face half buried in the grass and breathing shallowly. Shouldn't humans breathe a little more than that?

Was he…was he dead?

Bill was over him now, and managed to rally his anger at Dipper's fault. He did his best to keep the fear from his tone. Demons did not feel fear. Cipher hadn't been scared like this since, since…

"Dipper! Stop playing games—that's my job! Who said you could get hurt, huh kid!?" He tried again. He shifted subtly, as if he could block Dipper's prone form from view from Gideon. He was a bit see through, but the demon's posture remained protective and threatening.

The child only giggled, and Bill _hated_ the sound. He turned back to his little fragile sapling and stretched out a boneless arm to shake Dipper's shoulder. Gently at first, then with growing unease. He didn't like this. He didn't like this one bit. Normally, this action obtained some sort of response when Bill tired to wake him in the morning. Even if it was an arm swatting at him, it was still something.

Now, though.

"Didn't you hear me?! _**I SAID GET UP!" **_On the last shout, his voice turned deep and demonic, rumbling like the voice belonged to a massive hulking monster instead of the two foot tall glowing triangle that was the dream demon's outer form. Despite his most commanding, horrifying tone, this did nothing to rouse an answer from the unmoving boy.

He moved around Dipper to try and see his face, at the same time pushing on his left shoulder a bit. This time, Dipper's body moved up and his head half moved. When Bill let go, Dipper slumped back down into place and remained a crumpled little form on the forest floor.

Something deep, deep inside Bill's chest, flared with anxiety. And he couldn't think quite right. He couldn't focus, and if he had to breathe he's pretty sure he wouldn't be able to do that either.

This overwhelming feeling, this rushing noise he heard—what was this? Was this a panic attack?

Demons didn't get panic attacks. T-that was a weak human flaw. One of the many.

"…kid…._no_. This isn't…" Bill tried to explain something. Exactly what, not even he knew. No matter what it was, Dipper clearly wasn't in a position to hear it.

Gideon heard his suddenly soft voice, and saw the way his arms started to hang listlessly. The child decided to capitalize on it, because why not? He could use a little icing on his cake.

"My, my. Lost that angry streak you used to be famous for, didn't we now? I think you've failed in protecting your little mystery protégé, you've failed him quite enough. Why, you'd be lucky if he were to _ever_ wake up again." Gideon's tiny lips turned upward into a vile little sneer.

Bill didn't answer. Or move. He wasn't in floating in place.

"You've underestimated the human body a'once more Bill! But this time it cost you more than a deal, didn't it? Cost you your little pet there. Shame. I am sorry it had to come to this." Gideon tsked, not sounding very sorry at all. He used his words to test the reaction of the demon. Bill's one eye was wide and unseeing, staring down at Dipper's back, covered in dirt and soot and blood.

Despite his mocking, Cipher didn't respond, not even a twitch. Gideon felt pride swell inside him, and he rubbed his piggy hands together, knowing he'd won. The Dream Demon was effectively distracted, and it wasn't like Pines was going to do anything to him now.

Gideon strode closer and bent down to scoop up the 3rd journal. It was half under Dipper's pale hand, fingers stretched out. When Dipper had tumbled from the trunk, he'd just managed to keep a hold on the journal that ended when he'd hit the ground so hard. And Bill was still hovering over him, clearly trying to process just what was wrong with the boy. (My, if only he knew, the little idiot.) Despite the proximity of the dangerous monster, Gideon snagged the book quite easily and lifted it. Cipher was half aware at that point. He managed to refocus, as he watched with a dead eye what happened. Pine Tree's hand lifted, and slid down the cover and slumped quietly back to the earth without so much as a noise from Dipper. His hand made a soft '_paft'_ sound when it met the dirt. That was it.

Bill could only think one all-consuming thought:

Dipper _never_ let that book out of his grip.

This was it then.

Dipper was…gone. And Bill had failed.

"I always knew ahh'd haveta pry it from his cold, dead—"

A bolt of blue fire slammed into Gideon's body and the kid went FLYING.

Well, if Dipper was gone, then Bill Cipher literally had nothing left to lose, now did he?

The demon let out a noise between a bellow and a roar and gathered more of his energy. Drawing on his reserves, he became solid, and very real. It's not every day you see your nightmares come to life. Though Bill had no mouth, it was obvious his look was one of fierce delight and rage as his circle swirled into life around him, spinning erratically.

There was a low, deadly growl coming from somewhere above Gideon. Gideon managed to crack open an eye from the rubble into which he'd been slammed into; lifting his chin an inch to see what was making such an ungodly noise. He immediately wished he hadn't, because the last thing he saw was _fire, red, claws and teeth._

And not necessarily in that order.

For a long, blinding moment, there was no God in Gravity Falls.

And then there was the tiniest of noises, a pathetic little cough, and everything froze.

Bill turned, his entire body flaring crimson and his fists engulfed in destructive blue fire as he tracked the noise behind him, to his right. He still had a hand raised, preparing to send the full backlash of his power down on the human and the land around him. He half intended to raze Gravity Fall's forest to the ground, with little care of what happened to himself if he wasted so much energy. But now, with his sharp hearing picking up a familiar noise, the Dream Demon hesitated in his nightmare giving because of what he saw over his shoulder.

Dipper was moving. Dipper was _moving_!

Well, not very much. Still! The boy shakily shifted onto his side and then his back, giving soft noises of pain that made something in Bill's chest ache in what appeared to be sympathy. Dipper sounded weak and pathetic Cipher made a mental note to never let the boy out of his sight ever again.

There was a noise before him, and Bill was distracted momentarily. What had he been doing? Ah, yes! What he was good at—

"….B-Bill?" Followed by the weakest of moans from behind him. Dipper voice was small and thin.

…but what Bill Cipher was _good_ at, was very different from what he wanted to be good at, the Dream Demon realized then.

Abandoning his flames and the current task at hand, Bill switched targets and was literally a blur back to Dipper's side.

"Pine Tree?!" He tried not to sound too excited. What, was he 500 years old again? Lame! He needed to put up a better front than this.

Dipper, bless his little heart, looked up and saw him, and managed a tiny smile. "I need…I _really_ need a hospital, man." Now that he was awake and had shifted, Bill saw the damage better. Something in Dipper's chest clearly wasn't doing what it was supposed to. The boy's lips were a little blue, and getting worse. There were bruises forming in crops, and scraps and cuts that required some form of antiseptic.

It looked a little too much like the time Bill had taken over Dipper's body, and the demon felt guilt threaten to swallow him up. Dipper must have seen the downright scared look on his 'face' because the kid shivered and reached a shaking hand up. It rested on Bill's front, showing no fear in touching such a deadly monster. A monster that had, not that long ago, hurt him worse than Gideon just had.

Despite this, Dipper showed no fear. And it gave Bill the tiniest feelings of hope, and a sudden rush of affection for this trusting little kid.

"H-Hos…" Dipper rasped out again, trying to remind him. Bill jerked to life and nodded, eye widening.

"Okay, okay. I hear ya." Cipher did his best to sound soothing. It worked, or maybe because he'd started pulling them in the Dreamscape to shift the scene. Either way, Dipper relaxed trustingly in his hold and sighed in exhaustion and clear pain.

"Uh, everything will be okay, yeah? I'll get yer sister, and you can sleep for a weak—and, look, I saved the journal!" He tried, hoping for an answer that was words and not scrawny, pained little gasps as Dipper tried to catch his breath. Whatever was wrong in him, it must be hurting bad.

Dipper knew the next time he was pulled from the Dreamscape into Reality, it would be before Gravity Falls General.

Eyes fluttering closed; the boy managed one weaker smile of gratitude before passing out.

He missed Bill's uneasy glance away from him, or the way the demon refused to leave his side once they actually did get to the hospital.

Better Dipper didn't know. Few believed the loyalty of a demon, after all.


	4. Darkest Hours II

_**Prompt**__: Continuation of Darkest Hours._

_**Darkest Hours Part II**_

Dipper was going to be fine.

Mabel might maybe hunt Bill down and seal him inside a bag of Doritos and smash the bag with a hammer and then banish him to the far corners of the earth like she'd first screeched upon seeing her unconscious twin lying on a gurney, but at least _Dipper_ would be alright.

Which was the important thing, to be honest. Bill hadn't even retaliated when Mabel had reacted the way she did—yelling, little fist waving, normally cheerful brown eyes dark and angry "How could you let him get hurt?!"—and that right there had been what kept the girl's sanity. Bill did look ashamed—an alien feature on the Dream Demon, to be sure—and she'd let him off the hook because then they were rushing her brother into Emergency and Stan was coming through the doors.

Mabel had taken a moment to look between the closing hospital doors and the front ones, then decided something and rushed into her Great Uncle's arms and actually _hid_ in his chest. Even when Stan picked her up she didn't come out from her hiding spot. Bill thought he saw her arms tighten a bit. And Stan of course, was glaring at Bill like usual, but it was brief.

He and Stan couldn't talk in such a crowded place—little girls and boys talking to thin air was one thing. But only they and Stan could _see_ Bill, and even then all Stan saw was a faint outline, which was all Cipher allowed the man to see. Which was probably for the better, because if Stan knew exactly what had happened (though his furious glare clued Bill in on the fact that, yes, he did know something.) he'd proably make sure Mabel kept up her threat, or even added in a punishment of his own. So maybe it was best if Cipher just…lied low for a bit.

They both really did love the kid. Bill didn't really understand where Dipper's self-deprecation came from when he had two people who thought the world of him.

But Dipper wasn't here right now. He was in the hospital's care, and he was hurt. And it was Bill's fault. Still, he couldn't help but automatically follow the remaining Pines family though, when they walked down the hall and into a waiting room. Stan checked them in, Mabel still velcroed to his front and him patiently juggling her and trying to sign things and talk to the nurse all at the same time.

He lowered himself quietly on a window sill near them and simply stared at the floor.

This just hadn't been his day.

Maybe an hour or so later a nurse started approaching them, holding a clipboard.

Something _strange_ happened. (And coming from a Demon that lived in Gravity Falls, that's saying something.) Mabel finally let go of Stan, dropped to the floor and sprinted down the hall and to a room like she knew exactly where she was headed. She'd apparently just been waiting for them to be told it was okay to go there—even if the nurse hadn't really gotten to the part about telling them Dipper was in a room and able to be visited.

That room turned out to be Dipper's. Bill knew that—he knew everything.

He just didn't know how Mabel did.

The Dream Demon hung back, over Stanford's shoulder. This was partly to give the twin's some needed space and also because he wanted to know what Dipper had just gone through. Humans were so weird, fragile. You couldn't heal them with magic so they needed hospitals, which was a magic all its own but simply foreign to the Demon Who Was Supposed to Know Everything. Terms like 'collapsed chest and 'drainage' and 'reinflating the lung' were said. Bill made out "stable" and "resting now" which were obviously good terms, considering Stan sighed in obvious relief. Stan responded to the woman but Bill, his answers answered, wandered away from the humans and toward his own kids.

If he could still call them that.

The door was closed but there was a window to be seen through. Bill moved in front and watched Mabel finish scooting up to kneel on the bed beside her brother. Dipper was bandaged heavily and had something over his mouth, and his eyes were closed and his clothes were gone. Even when Mabel's little hand touched his uninjured shoulder and ever so gently shook it, he still didn't wake up. Cipher didn't think that was the best thing to be doing right now, but Mabel surprisingly stopped after the first attempt at waking her brother up and only hung her head for a second.

To be honest, Dipper already looked better than he did an hour and a half ago. And he was under strict machines monitoring his every move, so really…

He would be just fine.

It was Mabel Bill was now focused intently on. He observed her quietly.

She curled up tighter on the bed and carefully hugged Dipper's arm, which was lying over the covers and arguably the one limb he didn't have bandages or bruising on. His hat, only slightly crumpled and dirty from this whole fiasco, was crammed onto her head over her thick hair and seemed to be as much a security blanket as her twin's arm currently was. Mabel bit her lip, wouldn't quite look at Dipper's face for some reason only she knew, and fiddled with the thin hospital sheet as she watched over him. Her lips were moving, saying something to her sleeping brother. Bill couldn't hear her through the glass and he didn't feel like going into the room and seeing the fruits of his failure up close. (Because yes, letting Pine Tree get hurt like that WAS a failure on his part. A big one.) So Bill remained dutifully out in the hall, on the outside looking in.

Bill considered this sight before him, and wondered why Shooting Star's eyes were leaking.

Why strong, independent devil-may-care Mabel suddenly seemed as weak as her brother lying there unresponsive in the hospital bed was a complete and utter mystery to Bill.

"It's sad, right?" That was Stan's voice. Bill hadn't even noticed him walk up. These kids really were a big distraction to Bill. Stan's voice seemed rougher, more grating than usual; as if the man had sand paper in the back of his throat. Bill didn't look at him, but he did blink his one eye slowly, indicating he was listening.

"She's not so tough when he's like that." It was a quiet, sad observation. Bill was quiet.

When Stan entered the room and took a chair by Dipper's bedside, the Demon still hadn't moved.

He only moved when Mabel reluctantly peeled herself from her brother's side, only to come out and pull Bill inside. And when Bill is on Dipper's left side, and Mabel and Stan on his other, only then does Mabel crawl back up on the cot and fold herself against her twin and sniffle miserably.

Sure, Dipper was going to be fine.

Mabel, on the other hand.


	5. Thick as Thieves

_**Prompt:**_ _Going along with the headcanon that Bill marks his older!Pines Twins, his mark allows him to follow them to their parents' home and their high school and why is everywhere else sunny?_

* * *

_**Thick as Thieves**_

Bill Cipher considered the white wash walls, the hard plastic seats and the large boring, black chalkboard, and decided he didn't like this place one measly little bit.

Seriously what _was_ this place and books? And adults. The adult to children ratio was way out of proportion, and he followed too such children down the halls of this school as they made their way to class.

See, in Hell demons didn't learn class, they were born with it.

So really, the dream demon was just an honestly confused, curious mess about most of this stuff, and judging by the reactions of his two kids, they were on opposite ends of the spectrum. But at least they seemed old hat at this day to day thing. (Except Saturdays and Sundays. Bill didn't understand any of this timeline.)

Shooting Star was no different than usual. Bubbly, bright and eager to say hi to old friends and ask about their summer and tell them about hers. (Bill winced at first, but decided it didn't matter what Mabel said because these kids were what, fifteen now? And Gravity Falls and its oddities _were_ far enough away. Plus, everyone here seemed to know to take Mabel's words with a grain of salt.) And even though Dipper had an eye on his hat and Mabel had one on her sweater, the eye didn't let people see Bill—it let _Bill_ see people, more specifically it let him travel with the twins, as long as he stayed near one at all times. And even then he could look through the eye in the other and see whatever it was they were seeing.

It was good to be an all-knowing omnipresent being.

So here he was, floating and looking around the school a bit absentmindedly as Mabel and Dipper stood by both of their lockers. Bill studied Pine Tree's body language. Head down, facing his small gray locker and digging through it and taking a couple breaths as if steeling himself for something. Mabel wasn't even looking at what she was doing, she was too busy talking animatedly about her many boy crushes that year with some girlfriends. Once or twice Bill saw Dipper glance over, sigh fondly, and give Mabel the correct books she needed. Mabel finished her conversation as a bell rang somewhere all around them, and everyone began filing off. A prison gang so beaten down they didn't need shackles, it seemed to Bill. He had to admire whatever it was that had broken these kids spirits, even if he wasn't sure he liked it when it came to _his_ kids.

Cipher was a tad surprised no one believed Mabel.

He was even more surprised they made fun of the twins for it. Mostly Dipper. Stranger still, the kid seemed used to it.

When they both turned in separate directions down long, boring white halls, because Dipper had gym and Mabel had Science. Bill hesitated only a moment before slinking after Dipper. It helped Mabel had shooed the dream demon with a grin in her brother's direction, like she knew Dipper might need Bill just a little more than she did right now. Besides, Bill wasn't allowed in the Chemistry lab anyway after that whole incident with the gold liquid and the hole he put in the roof. (How he was supposed to know, Mabel said she wanted a good grade!)

Turns out, Shooting Star wasn't just a pretty face. She knew about a lot more than she let on, and her heart was always in the right place. Normally that sickened Bill, but when it came to Pine Tree, he was more than willing to trust her if it meant taking care of the kid who generally tried to tell everyone he was alright. And was usually lying.

It was only the second or third week of school, which ran from fall to spring, and already Cipher was done with this boring life and wanted back in Gravity Falls. He could sense the twins wanted that too, maybe Dipper more than Mabel. Bill didn't know entirely why, but after today gym class, he figured it out real quick.

Gym class was actual torture.

And Bill knew what he was talking about, mind you. Demon, Hell, remember? Torturing was a thing that went down regularly there. This was new but the basic idea wasn't. Make fun of the weak.

It was called dodge ball, some sick and twisted throwing game designed to filter out the strong from the weak. So far, it seemed to be working. There was a pattern, Bill picked up on it quickly. If you were thin and wiry like Dipper was, you were enemy number one in this game.

That's not to say Dipper didn't completely victimized. He did fight back, and Bill offered some help here and there. The demon knew Dipper wouldn't want him too, so he mostly hung up in the rafters and watched the game, highly amused when someone tripped or a ball popped for some strange, unknown reason.

"Oh, oh this is hilarious! Humans really know how to have fun, eh Pine Tree!"

Dipper, far below him, merely rolled his eyes and focused on not getting belted with a ball too hard. He ducked, and Bill offhandedly sent the ball ricocheting off a wall to slam into the one who threw it. Everyone laughed at the kid, and the kid and his friends glared at Dipper, who grinned sheepishly and waved.

Finally, a shrill whistle rang, like the one from this morning but closer and sharper, from an adult's lips. (What, were they dogs?) And Bill knew this meant the 'game' was over and it was time to get ready for another class.

There was a final smack to Dipper's back by a ball as the game stopped. It hit with a loud smack to the kid's spine and sent him stomach first into the ground. Even Bill winced in sympathy.

"You're gonna feel that in the morning, kid." Cipher said helpfully as he swung down to where Dipper lay face down. Dipper pulled his face from the floor and glared in his demon's general direction, but new better than to talk to thin air in a place like this.

"Hey dork, bonus round!"

"Oh, great—" Was the last thing Dipper managed before at least 4 balls smothered him briefly, smacking his arms and chin and shoulders with a much harder velocity than before.

"Hey! Game over!" Cipher snapped, swinging round to spy the kids who had done it. They were taller, bigger built than Dipper, maybe on a sports team or something. The kind of people Stan would have told Dipper to fight back too. But Stanford wasn't here right now, and this wasn't Gravity Falls.

Then the kids, shooting glances over their backs at Dipper rubbing his face on the ground wearily, actually _laughed_ at him, mocking. Dipper's face flushed and he ducked his gaze, but the Dream Demon floating over him honed in on them and actually hissed a little bit, sort of like an aggravated tom cat. His black hands were fists.

Cipher glared, eye flashing warning red for a split second before he tugged on his magical reserves in the Dreamscape and _changed_.

There was a snap and a subtle shift of clothing and form in the air, so quiet you wouldn't know it unless you knew to hear it. Dipper did, and he looked up with a panicked expression as Cipher's black shoes clicked on the gym floor as he dropped his floating ability. He landed rather gracefully (only because he'd gotten used to walking a year ago) and had one fist around his cane and the other fist was just at his side, one eye narrowed in anger and concentration as he started to stalk toward the backs of the boys with a low, deadly growl.

Dipper gave a noise, half of alarm and frustration and clambered with much less grass than his demon up on his feet, and into Bill's warpath. He shoved his palms against the demon's chest and held gently, bracing himself. The last kid made it into the locker room, and they were alone.

"No, no! Bill, _no_." Dipper yelped.

Bill leaned like he wanted to go around, but he didn't bat Dipper effortlessly out of the way like he could have with a pinkie.

"Stop, don't do it, please." Dipper pleaded, relieved when Bill halted in his tracks at his words and turned his floating pyramid head down, one eye lifting from its narrowed glare to swivel down to search his eyes, looking for answers. Dipper realized their positions. Honestly it was like a kitten trying to stop saber-toothed tiger but it worked, Bill gave a huff of annoyance and leaned back, and Dipper took his weight off the demon's body and let Bill cross his arms.

Well, now the demon looked hurt, not so much angry he'd been cheated out of a little retribution and revenge. You haven't lived till you've seen an all knowing, ancient dream demon _pouting_.

"This isn't Gravity Falls, Bill." Dipper muttered, not for the first time this month, as he adjusted his shirt and patted some dirt off it after his many landing on the floor.

"You can't just go unholy retribution on somebody without it coming back to bite you. People don't lie down and believe stuff here. _Especially_ the bad."

Bill eyed him and grumbled, turning his floating head to pointedly look in another direction. One of his boots tapped the floor. Dipper smiled in faint amusement, and it was a soft, knowing one.

"And as much as I appreciate you going to bat for me, cause _you know_ I do," One eye peeked hopefully at him after that, perking up, "But, the last thing this old town needs is a reason to call up the church to try and exorcise something they have no idea how to handle, okay?" Dipper shuddered at the very thought of someone doing that to Bill, and the demon did soften a hair at the concern the teen showed.

Pine Tree had a point. Not that Bill would admit it out loud, but after so long he didn't really need to. Dipper saw him relax, and with a tired smile patted the demon's shoulder and headed for the changing rooms himself. Disaster diverted.

Once more an invisible, travel sized triangle, Bill wandered after his kid, all the while thinking of unique ways of getting back at those boys without Dipper being outright able to pin it on him. He'd ask Mabel later, she always knew how to get around her brother's smarts.

Dipper was right, this wasn't Gravity Falls. This was a whole new ball game.

To Bill, that just meant a challenge where he had to learn some new rules before he broke them, burned them down, and laughed at the ashes. No problem.


	6. Give 'Em Hell

_**Prompt**__: A situation (maybe Monsterfalls?) where Dipper and Mabel have to protect Bill for a change. _

_**Note**__: Monsterfalls is an AU where the cast has become monsters. Dipper is a deertaur, Mabel is a mermaid, Grunkle Stan is Garygoyle, Wendy is a werewolf, etc. Cipher, already being a monster, just seems to be capable of being human, but he's still a demon._

* * *

_**Give Em Hell**_

Bill Cipher's day just wasn't going well at all.

First, he hadn't gotten much for breakfast. And breakfast for him was between the hours of 12 and 9 am, when most of the creatures in his territory were asleep and dreaming. Dreaming delicious, lovely morsels, from thick salty nightmares that kept him fed for _months_, to velvety rich wish-fulfillment dreams that had dollops of hopes and wonder topped on them like heavy cream. On a good night he'd get to gobble a veritable buffet of every kind of dream there was, leaving nothing but black inky darkness in his wake and a wonderfully full core that thrummed with power. And since you didn't know when another good dream would come around again, Bill often wasn't picky. And last night he'd had nothing to be picky over, and as such when the sun had risen Bill had nearly yawned himself back into the Dreamscape. Ordinarily, one night of no juicy dreams wouldn't much matter to the all powerful being. But after a solid four days of nothing of much substance to consume, even Bill was feeling a little green around the gills.

He'd stumbled a bit even, glancing down at the hopelessly long legs his human form had and frowned deeply at them. Hardly enough power to hover, too. Mhm. Not good at all.

As was his luck, his day started going downhill from there.

The lake monster wasn't appreciative of his presence in its territory (silly beast) but Bill didn't have the energy or patience to deal with it, so he'd left it alone. That clumsy sculpey Soos had slammed him with clay so heavy the thin Bill had toppled right through a wall in the Shack. Cursing and shouting did nothing, and Bill honestly felt a headache coming on. Stan had stomped through the door and yelled at Bill for the mess, since the last thing someone wanted to deal with was a gargoyle that felt its house or inhabitants were being endangered in anyway. (Bill was only grateful it was the Shack's shitty wall and _not_ one of the twins. He didn't feel like being punched through three walls and into a tree.) After a losing battle against that gray oaf, Bill had growled and left. There was no rest for weary.

So he stalked into the woods. Maybe he could find an easy meal there. He wondered vaguely where the twins were, and what they might be up too, but by the time he got well into the nice familiar territory, he was too sleepy to care about anything but rest. His body was shutting down. This wasn't good, but Bill couldn't quite remember why exactly.

That tree looked nice.

The Dream Demon stumbled over, letting his black legs tumble from under him and his back hit the bark. His skin was graying and his normally bright yellow eye was a faded, soft pastel of its normal color. Even his hair probably looked lighter, feh. Cipher considered letting his body simply melt into the Dreamscape but decided the trip into it wouldn't be worth the trouble, and before he could think about it too much, his heavy eyelids had drooped closed.

He slept. It wasn't a very good sleep. Sleeping for demons like him was a slightly scary sort of floating, you felt nonexistent. You floated in an afterthought of existence, a sort of lingo where you were _nothing_. You felt small, and weak and helpless, and most demons did anything to avoid their powers sinking that low. If Bill had more energy, he'd probably be regretting it.

Suddenly the ground shuddered. The motion jerked him from the brink of nothingness, (for which he was actually relieved) and soon he was blinking in dreary confusion at the forest and the huge hulking behemoth stalking much to close. His relief caved way to annoyance and a touch of fear. He did not have the energy to combat this thing. He honestly wasn't even sure he could out run it now.

"Hn—what?" He managed, trying to get to his feet. Bill failed miserably, and only managed to get the beast's attention more. It growled and slobbered around massive jaws, teeth long than Bill's arm and thicker than his waist. It picked up pace, loping toward him, at full energy.

"…_futuo_." The Demon groaned as he forced his protesting body up and scrambled behind a tree as the claws came swiping. Bark flew and the tree shook, but Bill only swayed uneasily and clutched his throbbing head. No power. No way to move fast.

A quick save like that wouldn't save him again.

Suddenly something grabbed his arm and pulled him deeper between the trees into the darkness. He stumbled back, ending up bent over to fit inside what appeared to be a close little thicket. Sunlight hardly made it through the leaves, mottling the forest ground in dapples of light. It was dark, and it was comforting. Not because of the place, but because of the long brown legs he saw behind him when he turned, still on his knees.

Now he knew right away who it was that had saved him. Only one creature was _that_ silent, it was like they weren't there at all. (Unless they were scared and bolting away from something clumsily, which was honestly the funniest thing Cipher had ever seen.)

"_Pine Tree_?" Bill managed incredulously as the skinny buck looked down at him with clear concern.

"Bill? What happened to you? You look awful, man. Normally you'd have _eaten_ a monster like that already." The deertaur's voice was a soft little whisper. Bill gave a mild glare and rallied his bark, since they both knew right now he had no bite.

"Oh, is this how you greet your friends? Love to hear what you think of your enemies, PT."

Dipper gave a look, one that silently warned him not to revoke the hiding spot Dipper was offering him. Bill tried not to frown—it was very hard—and instead looked back into the small opening. He could still hear the beast, but it seemed rather distracted by something. Or someone. There was the sound of moving water and familiar _giggling_.

"Is-is Shooting Star out there? What in seven hells is she doing?" If he had the energy to get up from his knees he'd storm out there right now and toss the monster so far from the tiny mergirl they'd have to pump sunshine to it. _No one_ touched his kids.

"Doing what she does best." Dipper smiled wryly.

Bill considered this and decided to relax a little. He sat on the forest floor with his palms behind him bracing his arms up and gave a look at one of his kids.

"Ah. Making a lot of obnoxious noses and being distracting?"

"Yep." Dipper sounded proud as his big ears pricked to listen, making sure his pseudo-twin was still alright. The giant hamster ball filled with water Grunkle Stan had gotten them was surprisingly tough, so even if she did let it swipe her she'd harmlessly bounce a bit before 'swimming' back over to it.

Honestly, Bill felt a bit sympathetic for the monster at that point. He wasn't at all surprised when something came crashing through the underbrush, trampling leaves and bushes in its wake.

"Coast is clear!" Mabel's voice trilled happily.

"Mabel, be a bit more careful." Dipper whined as he stepped out with much more grace than his sister possessed, glancing sadly at the crumpled leaves and thistles leading toward the safe little thicket. He liked having little hiding spots nearby, even if they did all sleep in the shack under their Grunkle's protection.

"I am being careful; I only rolled over a few gnomes today. _That's_ a new record." She grinned then blinked, pressing her hands to the inside of her moving 'fishbowl.'

"Hey Bill, what's eating you? You're all gray-ie and see through." Her tail flicked before she decided, "It's weird."

"Mabel's right Bill. Have you been eating enough dreams?"

"Huh? Oh. Dun worry'bout it you two." Cipher slurred, rubbing his face, eyes half mast or closed. The twins shared a worried look. Bill never slurred.

"C'mon, Bill." That was Dipper, grabbing the black gloved hand of the demon, fearless of the deadly claws trying to poke through the laytex. He tugged a bit, guiding the tall figure through the woods back toward the Shack.

The demon only yawned, and followed with surprising obedience.

The next thing Cipher knew he was on the couch in Mystery Shack and his head was on something soft. Upon further realization, and turning his head a fraction to the left, he saw thin brown forelegs of a deer hanging over the seat cushions, back legs tucked up neatly. His pillow was moving as Dipper breathed in and out, nose buried in the journal. The deertaur was tucked into the sofa side and Bill was lying on his back with his head on the boy's lower torso. It was unexpectedly comfortable.

"Why didn't you just take some of our dreams, you silly dorito?" Mabel, now in her tank by the sofa and hanging over the side, patted her tail happily in the water.

"Hn?" Bill turned to look up at her, half listening to Dipper's distracted mumbles and the tv which was on in the background.

"Oh. Uh. Well. S'kinda considered rude you know. ….To take dreams from…creatures you don't _absolutely_ loathe."

Mabel blinked, and then realization dawned upon her face and she beamed.

"Don't hate—so you like us?! _Awww_, Bill!" Mabel blew the demon a kiss and swam to the bottom of her tank where she curled up, saying she'd go to sleep so Bill could get some food in him properly. And she wouldn't take no for an answer mister!

Bill heard Dipper chuckle, the noise reverberating in his stomach. The demon threw them an empty glare and simply rolled onto his right side, facing the back of the couch. He listened to the background of Mabel's tank, Dipper soft mumblings as he worked, and felt himself relax. Within moments he was asleep, and Dipper knew the demon was following his sister into her mind to do as she requested.

Dipper meanwhile, quietly wrote in Journal 3, on the page behind Bill's section.

_Dream demons show they like you by not eating your dreams. _

He underlined 'not' twice and smiled softly at the page. Wonders never cease.


	7. Sick and Twisted

_**Prompt**__: Can you please write one where Bill is sick with the blu and the Pine twins take care of him?_

* * *

_**Sick and Twisted (Actually, Just Sick)**_

We've all had it at some point in our lives. The nausea, the headaches, the runny nose and the fever that's so bad you could bake ziti on your forehead.

The flu.

A common enough sickness humans had to deal with. And dealt with by a combination medicine, bed rest, warm soup and refreshing fluids. It got you out of school, out of work and chores and if you were very lucky, you had a mother who said 'no school until 24 hours fever free.' Which generally meant at least one day where you felt fine and thus spent the day inside playing video games and watching old reruns of _Scooby-Doo_ on the tv.

Now, demons didn't get sick. That's one thing you must remember, because it was the same thing Cipher told his kids over and over. He told them adamantly, proudly even. As he sneezed, coughed, and threw up something horribly black and squelchy that started sizzling a hole in the carpet until Stan poured Holy Water on it. Cipher repeated this statement with Dipper-esque stubbornness on how there was no way in Hell that he, an all-powerful (_Semi_, Mabel corrected cheerfully) demon could ever get sick.

That aside, the drapes certainly didn't light _themselves_ on fire when Bill had a sneezing fit by them, and Grunkle Stan was getting so fed up making Soos run around all day cleaning up after the demon's illness that he finally demanded the twins 'take that blasted monster upstairs and keep him _away_ from the customers!' During this shout, Cipher sharply sneezed twice more in the living room and turned the couch inside out and the lamp's bulb exploded and _melted_.

Now, Dipper wasn't sure humans could get the demonic flu, but he decided now wasn't the time to split hairs, mostly because Bill's human form was sagging almost over him as he and his sister lead their demonic guardian up the stairs into the safety of the attic. That, and Grunkle Stan seemed pretty mad the insides of the couch were now all over the carpeting. It was best just to get the ailing demon out of their Grunkle's sight, at this point. So, up to the attic the demon was guided, his whining about demons never getting colds trailing off.

Bill spotted Dipper's bed, and bee-lined for it, collapsing his tall body with a low groan of relief. Mabel giggled at her twin's blush when she noticed that Bill choose _his_ bed, because demons were actually very choosy about things they called 'nests.'

"Bill?" Dipper walked up to Cipher's shoulders, watching with some concern when all he received was a grunt to show Cipher was listening. "Do you need anything? Can…can we do anything, man? To make you feel better…"

"Yeah, I mean how did _you_ even get the flu—" ("It's _not_ the flu!") "In the first place? Don't your bad vibes keep all the…'_other'_ vibes away?"

"If it's not the flu, than what is it?" Dipper finally asked, unable to bottle his questions any longer.

Cipher's brow was knitted, and he was trying to rub a temple to get rid of a headache. This seemed to be with little success, so Dipper turned off the light, casting the place in a little bit of moody darkness. Both twins heard the demon's quiet noise of appreciation, a sort of guttural purr at the change in brightness.

"S'like…it's like this thing…when our magic, our powers, get out of whack. And constrained you know…s'like called magical back-up." Suddenly Cipher was speaking around rows of white cruel fangs. On the next moans, every one of his teeth was sharp and jagged, like he had little pearl Doritos on his mouth.

Dipper watched the demon's golden eyes flash weakly, slitted and unfocused, and bit his own lip. Mabel scooted up at that, and reached out, pressing the back of her hand to the demon's gray forehead.

"_Whoa_!"

"What?" Dipper jumped.

"Well, he doesn't have a fever. He's freezing! Wow Bill, you're like one of those never-melting ice cream treats!"

"Thaaat might not be good." When Mabel glanced at him, Dipper rubbed his arm and felt for himself, wincing at the icy touch. "Bill is—I mean, demons are—always hot, remember him saying that? Like a lizard. They like heat and he's always using blue fire so he proably has a higher temperature he runs at."

Bill's smile was weak, but there. "Good job Pine Tree. Demons don't do well with chills. It also means I don't—" Bill paused for a coughing fit, nose scrunching, "I don't have enough magic to make fire let alone any other tricks." He moaned loudly and arched his hands.

"Including…"

Sharp, cruel claws streaked from his nails and dug into Dipper's comforter. Dipper yelped, but both he and Mabel yelped when thick black arms with a few fingers shot from Cipher's back, tearing through his shirt. The crumpled leather wings landed heavily, and at awkward angles beside the demonic force, who was still lying there looking positively miserable.

"The spell for my humanity-guise." Bill finished lamely. The demon (who now looked more demonic than the kids had ever seen,) also looked more annoyed than anything, and managed to shift one wing into a more comfortable position, though the other was awkwardly shoved against the wall and remained there no matter how Bill shifted.

Mabel gushed over Bill's pretty wings and was ready to paint his nails all sort of colors, but the demon pleading glance at Dipper shook the boy out of his shock and he gathered his thoughts.

"M-Mabel!" Dipper fought to the keep the laughter out of his voice. "Mabel, maybe later we can do that stuff with Bill. After he's feeling better though, don't you think?"

"Oh, yeah, good idea! I guess my party pink and terrific teal nailpolish isn't going anywhere."

Bill yawned quietly, and though Dipper marveled at the strange way his jaw seemed to stretch (like a snake? Weird!) He forced himself to not give into his own demons of asking questions and instead focused on the demon who was their friend.

"I know when I feel sick, crackers and juice help me. And so does my bed, so, uh, make yourself comfortable Bill, you can stay as long as you want."

Bill hummed and gathered himself up, shifting to lie on his side in a loose curl and blanket himself with one of his own giant wings. The wings looked sturdy and dexterous enough, Dipper noticed, but hardly meant for flying it seemed, the webbing so scarce and thin. Maybe the wings had _other_ purposes—? No! Concentrate!

"C'mon Mabel. Help me go look for stuff we can use to keep Bill comfortable. I'm sure he'll get rid of his flu—or magical backup or whatever—on his own."

Remembering what Mabel said about his temperature, and noticing how Bill's wing didn't seem to be helping any, Dipper managed to pull a few blankets over the demon's larger body. Mabel even helped by throwing hers over, and they pushed a few pillows around Cipher's hunched up body to try and keep in some warmth. The demon's visible eye was closed and he didn't seem to be moving too much, though Dipper could see him shuddering and saw his wing fingers quivering ever so often as they moved. It was hard to gauge if Bill had something in his chest, he didn't breathe after all. So now sound could be determined if it was congested or not.

Dipper stayed up with Bill while Mabel went downstairs to make him tea—after much convincing that no, Bill didn't need Mabel juice right now. Tea was warm, and should help Bill with his flu symptoms.

Dipper watched him worriedly, and hoped the tea would help at least.

Unfortunately Journal 3 had nothing in the way of demons with colds, though he did find a section on mythical creatures and their illness, which looked promising.

"It says here's a lot of creatures get magical backup sometimes." Dipper read as Mabel returned with the tea. "It seems pretty random and slim, but it happens. The writer of journal wrote down a list of creatures he suspected having it. Let's see…"

No demons, though the skele-snake, the wigawaw and a dijin were recorded as having similar symptoms as the ones Bill was showing. Opposite temperature, magical outburst from sneezing, general fatigue, weakness and incapable of hiding from humans.

"Does the journal say anything about how they got better?" Mabel pressed as she pushed the little tea cup on its plate over to Bill, who was resting with his head on his crossed arms.

He lifted his head wearily at her poking, noticed the crackers and slid out a suddenly long slithery _tongue_, and it was horrifying. The tongue snapped the crackers up, then curled round the cups handle and drew it past Cipher's teeth, porcelain, liquid and all. Right into his mouth it went, the demon's eyes lidded and he didn't seem to be really with it. The cup crunched into pieces, Cipher flexed his jaw and simply swallowed. His eyes drooped shut and his head dropped back down, hardly noticing the twin's matching expressions of shock and awe.

"…Bill's right. The flu for demons _isn't_ the flu for humans." Mabel finally broke the silence with that sage comment. Her brother could only nod.

Demonic attributes and attitudes aside, the twins spent the better part of the afternoon fussing over Bill and running around looking for ways to make him better.

The demon's appetite came and went, and when it did come something strange was usually devoured along with the offered vitals. So far, Bill had accidently (or not, Dipper wasn't sure) consumed a tea cup, a spoon, nine-tenths of the comforter and one of Mabel's plastic dinosaurs that was in her Mabel juice. Mabel didn't mind, she just hoped the demon liked the flavor.

But Bill didn't answer them much, and when he did it was in grunts, growls and once a hiss. The hiss was for Grunkle Stan, and the reason was because he'd come up and disturbed the already grumpy demon's nap. Mabel had flown to the demon's defense, to everyone's clear bemusement, and Bill just tiredly went back to sleep.

Dipper meanwhile, was a little worried. So much so that he finally threw caution to the wind (perhaps in Dipper's case his caution was on a permanent vacation on the wind) and clambered slowly up onto the bed with the giant sleeping lump.

"…Bill?" He asked softly, testing to see if he'd woken the demon or not.

No verbal answer. One of the demon's fingers twitched in his sleep. But Dipper thought he heard something. It was a strange sound, strange because Bill didn't make noises. He had no breath, no heartbeat, no organs.

…so where was those raspy, whispy gusts in the demon's chest coming from?

The kid edged his way under one of Cipher's wings, it was lighter than he expected and didn't react upon being touched. Dipper paused under the canopy of the demon's cupped wing, weighing his options and letting his eyes adjust to the darkness for a moment.

When Bill didn't stir and the raspy sound only got louder, Dipper moved into a lying position and angled his head against the comforter of his bed. He held his breath, ear close to the demon's chest, right in the center since Bill was still mostly on his side and facing Dipper. There it was, only now it sounded thick and heavy with something Dipper could only pinpoint as congestion. Something passed in waves, starting deep in the demon's chest and moving in all directions through Cipher's human frame. Dipper wondered what it was, but then noticed how warm and cozy it had gotten in this wing tent. Even ill like this, Cipher was still remarkably solid and reassuring in his presence.

…Bill wouldn't mind, would he? No, he didn't really care much what the kids did as long as it wasn't dangerous, and Dipper felt there was no where safer other than by Bill's side.

Dipper had curled up under Bill's wing, against his pulsing chest, and had dropped off to sleep in the warmth before he was even aware of it.

**oOo**

Bill woke up, and immediately regretted it.

He felt weak and tired, like he was a young demon again so many thousands of years of ago. There was a distinct pounding around his temples, in two places actually, alluding to his horns. The demon's vision swam and steadied slowly, and it took him a moment to register the two little balls of pressure on either side of him. Each was tucked under a wing, and upon further inspecting he realized it was the twin who were just curled up so brazenly against him, as if they belonged there.

Despite his chills, Cipher smiled faintly. Both were asleep, and Mabel came with Waddles, and Dipper was tucked against his stomach hugging journal 3, and really, Cipher wonders when he started finding the twins so enjoyable cute. (They had always been cute, but it used to sicken him. Now…he was a rather declawed demon, it seemed.)

Lucifer, he felt like he'd been hit by the Holy Bible and then fed a sandwich made out of its pages.

…but the little warm heaters at his sides weren't unappreciated. Really, it was the least they could do after all the trouble and core-attacks they put Bill through on a daily, sometimes hourly basis.

Cipher hissed as he tried to sit up, his body aching and joins cracking in feeble protest. His chills hadn't quite left, and his muscles shook a bit from lack of magical fuel. Still sick, then.

Bill sighed and shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. Then he settled back down.

But this time, leathery wings readjusted so that the twin were held, just a little more snugly, against the demon's figure as he fell back into unconsciousness.

He wasn't sure he'd wake up healthy again, but at least he wouldn't wake up alone. And that for some reason, made all the difference.

* * *

_If you have any prompts, feel free to leave me something in the review!_


	8. 20 Questions

_**Prompt**__: Do you think you could write about Bill being in his demonic human form (like he was when he was sick) and Dipper just asking questions and poking around (stretching out his wings, looking at his teeth, testing how sharp his claws are, etc.). And Bill's just answering his questions in amusement._

* * *

_**20 Questions**_

"Claw length?"

"3 centimeters relaxed, about 4 inches unsheathed."

Pause. Pencil scratch.

"How come they're not hooked?"

"Good question." A shrug.

"Wingspan?"

"Half or—oh, _total_? 4 meters or so."

Pause. Pencil scratch.

"Okay. Can you fly with them?"

"What, you mean like flap-flap?" A soft breeze hit Dipper's face as Bill's bat-like wings actually did go '_flap-flap_.' The demon shook his head from where he was lying on the bed on his stomach still. "Of course not."

"…then what _do_ they do?" he watched with unbridled fascination as the wings, with some difficulty in such a small room, refolded against Cipher's back. This was pretty amusing to Bill, who wasn't hiding his little self-satisfied smirk at showing off his truly demonic attributes. He was a pretty prideful creature sometimes, and Dipper's admiration wasn't helping any.

"They have to do something, huh Pine Tree?"

Dipper went back to his drawing in Journal 3, making sure he added the correct amount of fingers to the drawing of Bill's wing. Three thin fingers with three joints, and one thumb with a long thick claw that glinted in the dying light filtering through the attic window. Check.

"I know you, Bill. You _hate_ useless stuff. They must be good for something."

Bill's smile, now with wicked sharp ivory teeth jutting from his gums, eyes and teeth all but glowed in the twilight.

"I always said you're pretty persistent, Pine Tree."

Instead of a verbal answer, the demon turned and drew the Pine kid's attention to his left wing, which was lifting up from its tucked posture. The wrist joint turned suddenly, contorting and spread the thumb claw out. The fingers were tucked back and curled in gently to give Bill some room. Like this, the dream demon placed the wrist joint into Dipper's bed and pushed off. The other wing moved and followed, and Bill easily sat up, kneeling on the bed and leaning on the wings on either side of him.

"…so they _can_ act like arms, too. Wow." Dipper buried his nose back into his journal, pencil flying over the pages to try and get just the right shape of the double-jointed wrist as the claw dug into the bed a little. Bill shifted his weight a little and watched him draw, amusement and fondness heavy in his eyes.

"So _all_ demons have these things?"

"All _good_ demons." Cipher's grin was deadly for an instant, reminding Dipper that his friend was also someone who could bat an eye and destroy a building.

"Which means all bad demons." Dipper chewed the end of his eraser. "And they have a symbol shape too?"

"Easy to travel in. Once you get used to the size anyway, but that only takes a couple decades."

"In the dreamscape you were any size." Dipper pointed out.

"But out here I'm not, am I?"

"Hm." Dipper went back to his notes. Bill tipped his head back and yawned, still not entirely over his little cold yet. He settled back on the bed, making a satisfied noise at the comfort and considered not leaving this new nest even after he fully healed. Pine Tree would probably gripe but ultimately Cipher _could_ talk him into with sharing this nest, he was confident in that. For a moment, there was silence.

"…do you have a tail?"

Bill chuckled and cracked open an eye. It fell on Dipper, who was staring at him intently again.

"May_bee_, Pine Tree." He said, dragging out the 'e' on maybe to rhyme with tree.

"Maybes don't write books, Bill!" Dipper pouted in frustration. The demon only chuckled and stretched one arm out, arching his back briefly like a lazy cat before falling in exactly the same spot he'd moved from. Dipper had trained his desk lamp on him and the heat it was providing, while slim, was actually pleasant and attesting to Cipher's sleepy mannerisms. He was warm and comfortable and Pine Tree and Shooting Star's scent was all around him. No one could blame him for being relaxed.

There was a little dip in the bed as the kid got up and perched on the side.

"….CanImaybetouchyourwings_please." _it all came out in a little rush under his breath, but Cipher's sharp hearing picked the words out.

"If you must Pine Tree. I know you. You're more curious than the cat." Bill groaned dramatically, but moved to his left side and spread out his right wing. The longest finger in the middle nearly touched the door by Dipper's bed, and certainly covered all of Dipper's small stature.

Dipper's hands went up, and the wing came down and bonked the kids' hat playfully. Dipper snorted and let Bill do as he pleased; knowing how lucky he was the demon was being patient with him. At least, he'd probably look back on the experience and then realize how lucky he was.

Right now he was focused on feeling the soft leather webbing that arched between each fingers.

"Wooow…" Dipper murmured, moving to kneel on his bed to reach up and hold the black arm of the wing with both hands, testing how heavy it was. He was careful, he didn't pull it, and he only poked it a little. Dipper counted the joints, even took the one after the thumb claw and bent it to see how it would moved.

At the same time, though Bill pretended to go back to his nap, slitted eyes were watching Dipper carefully. He pulled his wing away when Dipper's finger got to close to his claws. They weren't large, but they were thick and dangerously sharp, and unlike his fingers these were able to hook into things. He didn't need that going into the boy's skin. Stanford would probably murder him, stuff him and put him on display.

Dipper didn't seem to notice Bill was watching him or reacting, and without thinking his nails brushed over the top of the wing, right into the grooves between the knuckles before the fingers branched out.

The demon under him was caught off guard by the touch, and a pleasant wave of _relief_ passed through him as Dipper itched the webbing. The noise bubbled in his throat and left his lips before he could realize he was making it.

Beside him, Dipper froze and turned to really look at the demon.

"Dude. You just purred."

It was Bill's turn to freeze. And he jerked up, folding his arms and going back to haughty lion, chest puffed out and all. His free wing gave an uneasy jerk before resettling.

"Don't be ridiculous Pine Tree! You heard a noise in the shack probably." Cough. "That's all."

"Mhm." But Dipper let it drop. "How about horns?"

"What?"

"Horns. Do you have horns?"

"I think you've been watching too many movies, Pine Tree. All these demon clichés, it's sad."

"That wasn't a _no_."

Cipher was uncharacteristically quiet for a moment. The silence stretched on for so long Dipper actually opened his mouth to tell him never mind, because horns were clearly a more sensitive subject than even the tail was.

But Cipher sighed, and there was the faint shift, subtle but Dipper was used to feeling it, of magic in the air as something gently sprouted from Cipher's head. _Two_ somethings actually, yellow unlike his black wings and only growing about ten inches. They curved inward ever so slightly, reminding Dipper of the sides of a triangle.

"…oh." He couldn't keep the awe some his voice. They were amazing looking.

Dipper reached out, then paused, drawing his hand back in. he didn't catch Cipher's grateful or proud look. For some reason, he felt he should wait for permission, so instead he fell back on questions. And continued his inspection of the demon's wings, which he couldn't seem to keep his hands off of.

"Your horns are really cool man. How come they didn't come out when the humanity spell came undone?"

"Horns are a…sensitive subject. And they're usually buried very deep, deeper than our cores."

Dipper made a mental note to ask what 'cores' were. Absentmindedly, his fingers roamed over the webbing on the giant wing spread before him.

"You're awfully enamored with my wings, Pine Tree." Came a remark down to his right.

Dipper blushed and shot Cipher a tiny, empty glare.

"I'm not the one who purred." But suddenly, "How _do_ you fly like this?"

Cipher could just see where this was going, he didn't have to be all-knowing to do so. He lifted his head, propping himself on his elbows.

"Do you want to find out, Pine Tree?" Bill grinned his infamous crocodile grin.

"Well I mean I _did_ just ask—" Dipper caught on, especially when he saw Bill starting to move at him, that dangerous smile cutting up his face. Sharp teeth glinted as Dipper paled and back peddled. Cipher slunk forward on all fours briefly, eating up space between them as he grabbed  
Dipper and changed direction, bounding for a window.

"W-wait! Bill you're still stick man! Y-you don't want to go—"

Too late.

They pushed through the window—which must have been magically stretched to accommodate them—and Dipper saw the grass below them, the 'HACK' at level as they seemed to hang in the air for one terrifying moment. Cool air pushed his face as they began to free fall, to Dipper's horror and dismay. He cried out the demon's name which melted into a scream as said demon only laughed and let them plummet for a second.

Instead of trying to break free, Dipper coiled his arms around Bill from behind, holding tight to his neck as they dropped toward the ground, yellow grass, dirt and certain death rising up to meet them. Until suddenly those giant wings on both side _spread_ and the demon shot straight up into the air, hair whipping back as the moonlight made Cipher's horn seem to glow.

"_Gyaaaaaahhh_!"

Cipher's echoing laughter joined Dipper's shout as they soared through the clouds and up into the night sky.

"Now you know how I fly Pine Tree!" He shouted back cheerfully as he leveled out, no longer using magic to propel himself.

"Y-yeah! _Poorly_!"

It was true enough. Cipher's wings gave only direction and a small amount of lift that was mostly useless by the time his magic picked up speed. He flew _by_ magic. The wings were just so he didn't crash into anything. Keeping that in mind, Dipper watched Cipher's wings flap almost clumsily, lazily even. They weren't very important, so Bill didn't have to bother with technique or anything like that. He bobbed in the air, flying like a rocket with propulsion at the back.

Below them the forest stretched out, thick and tangled woods that Bill rolled sideways into, sniggering as Dipper yelped again and tightened his hold.

"Boy it's a good thing I don't breathe!" the demon said as they angled around the tallest pines. His wings were folded up and arched, providing enough shape to let him take sharp, complex turns all meant to make Dipper yelp a little harder each time they narrowly avoided something.

Finally, finally, they slowed to a reasonable speed, and Dipper could actually think again. He caught his breath, and slowly opened his eyes to take in the sight around them. Lifting his face from the back of Bill's neck rewarded him with an admittedly amazing view. Gravity Falls stretched far out below them, a coarse clump of black woods with a few points here and there, the night sky velvet black. It was spotted with tiny pin pricks from stars, and mottled by stretched out blue clouds light up by the crescent moon that was rising.

Bill's wings gave an almost ponderous flap as they began to coast, no longer parallel with the ground but angled slightly up. Dipper kept his arms around the demon's shoulders, resting between the demon's shoulder blades as he listened to the sound of leather on both sides of him, beating the air on instinct as they turned in a wide, steady circle.

Now Dipper could see the shape he knew belonged to the Mystery Shack, and he relaxed even more. And beyond that, were tiny lights that was the rest of the sleepy, strange little town.

Dipper lifted his head a little more, moving his hand up without thinking. His fingers and palm met smooth, yellow enamel and his eyesight clouded over. Everything went yellow and faded back to normal—with the added addition of round, foggy purple clouds far off over the town. They were scattered and didn't move much unlike real clouds. They hovered over houses much like hot air balloons, and Dipper gaped at the sight, blinking a few times. The yellow haze around his vision did not falter as they flew. The little cloud edges were fuzzy and curling and it took Dipper a moment to realize just what he was seeing.

He sheepishly released Cipher's horn when the demon cleared his throat.

"…were those dreams?" Dipper finally ventured as they soared easily.

"Yup." Cipher popped the 'p.' "And if we went into those we'd head into their Dreamscape, but only the dream.

"So you couldn't get into their minds?" Like he did with Grunkle Stan, though Dipper didn't mention that little incident.

"Nah. It's like walking onto the property of someone's house. Can't get in without a key, but the yards up for grabs."

"That's how you leave nightmares." Dipper guessed as he looked up into the sky, spotting constellations.

"My specialty." Cipher hummed, but Dipper knew that wasn't all the dream demon could do. He could give and take away, and Dipper suspected Cipher had eaten more than a few of their own bad dreams ever since they'd befriended the horrifying, crazed entity. They hadn't flown far, and by the time Cipher answered his questions they were over the Mystery Shack again.

Bill landed on the roof after a few arduous flaps, walking carefully for once as he lifted back into the air to put Dipper back into the attic before following himself.

"Have fun?" He grinned at the kid's flyaway hair, wrinkled clothes and cold-reddened cheeks. Which was good, because that meant Bill probably didn't see his blush when _that_ smile was leveled at him.

"Uh, y-yeah actually." Dipper hid behind the brim of his hat a second before looking back up. "Just…warn me next time, okay Bill?"

Bill clucked his tongue in correction as he strutted past, wings tucked tight to let him fit into the room.

"Pine Tree. If I warned you about the _half_ things I did we'd never have any fun."

Dipper rolled his eyes, but found he couldn't argue. He settled instead for ushering the demon back into bed before his cold came back worse.

Besides, he had a _lot_ of new notes to put under Bill's section in the journal.

"Hey, Bill?"

"A'yeah?"

"Thanks."

"…you're welcome, Dipper."


	9. Lullaby

_**Prompt**__: I can go for a billdip with dipper waking up on the could winter mornings with bill keeping him warm ! Just some cute fluffy stuff_

_I actually really needed this after the day I had. Fluff warms the soul._

* * *

_**Lullaby**_

Winter had come to Oregon. This wasn't unusual, it was December break, and the twins were spending it with their Grunkle (after much begging and pleading to their parents, who never quite understood their children's fascination with the oldest family member.) So, no. The act of snow falling was rather normal for a boring December the 20th, on a very boring Tuesday morning. Except of course, when you factored in the addition of ice fairies floating about crafting thousands of flurries a minute, each and every one unique, then, yes. Things got a little less normal, and a little more Gravity Falls.

With the fairies doing the work as if they were the busiest of bees, the snow fall came rather quickly. All in one night in fact, and with it went the temperature, which dropped so low so quickly the windows were frosting over and the old shack was moaning eerily from the wind rushing over it.

Mabel Pines was already up and on the first floor, making pancakes with her Grunkle's help (read: he was adding too many chocolate chips, and she was doing the flipping) and they'd already built a fire in the hearth down there.

Up in the attic however, was another story…

The thermometer read a whopping 2 degrees. The window was faulty, the latch letting small breaths of chilly air as if from Jack Frost himself. And _not_ the teenager in the blue hoodie, no, the twins didn't mind _that_ jokester. This was far too cold to be healthy for humans. It didn't quite help the shack had no insulation. Right now, Stan was having to use a hot air dryer to break the plates apart from where they'd frozen together in the cabinet.

But Dipper Pines was not aware of any of this.

Currently, he was in cozy, warm bliss, and had no idea why.

He awoke slowly, reluctantly, and buried his nose deeper into his pillow for a moment, curling up a little tighter to fend off awareness and convince his brains for a few minutes more. Just a few minutes more of this wonderfully warm, comfy, heavy, purring—

_What_.

Dipper's brain jolted awake as he tried to sit up. He failed superbly, because it was impossible for someone his size to move the weight that was a human-demonic Bill Cipher.

Who was folded over him on top of the comforter, like a giant cat, his huge wings mantled.

And he was purring.

Loudly.

"B-Bill! _Dude_!" Dipper pushed at the demon's large body, one hand on his shoulder and the other his side, trying in vain to move the demon off him. Dipper would have better luck getting Mabel out on another date with Gideon. And any effort he made at all, like when Bill's white shoulder moved, the demon would just flop back in place with a simple shift, snoring round his pointed teeth as he moved back into his position.

Oh, there was so many things wrong with this, just what the heck was Bill thinking?! Crawling on top of him like this! For one thing, he could be crushed. For another, Stan would hang the demon by his horns if he walked on this, and another thing was…

Was that this was _really_ warm. And the air he'd been trying to get out into was decidedly not; in fact it was nothing short of _freezing_. Dipper took one look at the iced over window and didn't even want to think about what the hard wood floor would feel like at this hour in the morning. The mere thought of going into the icy, biting world when he was in fact sitting under the world's greatest heated blanket seemed ridiculous. The cold looked less promising when he tuned in on that soft lulling purr Cipher was doing instinctively in his dozing. It was…sort of _cute_. For an unhinged, murderous demon anyway.

The kid shivered quietly. Bill shifted a fraction, but slept on.

Dipper moaned in defeat and rubbed his face tiredly. He leaned back into the mattress, and realized his legs had moved under a little open cavity caused by Cipher's curled up form. Eyes widening, Dipper scooted down a bit, finding enough room to lie without feeling like he was being pressed right through the bed frame. This explained how Bill got away with laying down onto of him sometime in the middle of the night, and Dipper hadn't woken from the sudden pressure. Sneaky dream demon. The warmth only got stronger, and Dipper heard a faint whisping noise that was the demon's hot white, star-like center.

Bill had his wings out probably to keep the heat in, which they were doing rather well. Dipper was a little confused that their demon was in a mode he voiced against quite often. Cliché, heavy, impossible to fit through most doorways like this, among other things Cipher had commented when Dipper asked him why he was his little triangle shape more often than not.

Right now though, Cipher wasn't in his easier mode. He'd gone to all the trouble of changing forms into this one, and now here he was, lying on top of Dipper's bed like the world biggest (and laziest, Dipper mused affectionately) cat and purring to boot. This was too good. And Dipper had a feeling he knew why Bill had gone to all this trouble in the first place.

Dipper glanced over at his sister's bed, which still held the only heated blanket in the shack, given to them by Stan, to Dipper. Who in turn had given it to Mabel, saying she'd need it way more, Waddles or no.

Bill hadn't said a word last night when they'd had this conversation, but now Dipper knew why.

"…you're such a sap." Dipper whispered, but it was fond. Stifling a yawn as he pulled his blanket back over his shoulder, Dipper rolled onto his side under the demon's tented wings and tucked up body, right where the heat was. He drew his knees up a little, body fitting in the pocket of brain-melting heat created by the demonic entity's sheer presence. (No place hotter than Hell, of course.)

He faced the wall and soon his eyes dropped close, and Dipper fell back to sleep.

Only then did Cipher shift, moving to rest his chin on Dipper's shoulder, his throat pressed into the boy's arm.

The purring got louder, and Cipher's lips turned upward. Just a bit, and the two slept on.


	10. If You Were Flying

_**Prompt**_: _Bill and Stan snarking at each other? Double points if they to pause real quick while one of the twins are in the room. _

_So, what I __wanted__ to do was a tiny continuation of the last sic fic where Bill took Dipper flying during the night. But like, I also wanted to do monster falls, and that would be switching aus between fics and that doesn't even make any sort of sense. (I mean, this __is__ Gravity Falls but there's got to be some cohesion.) I decided to go with normal!verse, with my…added headcanons about Cipher. Also…let's face it. Human, normal Stan going up against demonic Bill and not giving a flying fuck he's yelling at a demonic entity? That's actually pretty adorbs _because _this is how much he loves his niece/nephew__. Stan runs from stuff a lot (the store, Gideon's father, he's even running in the opening theme.) But…_

_Do we ever see Stanford turn and run when the twins are involved?_

_**If You Were Flying**_

* * *

"Flying? You took him _flying_?!"

"Look Stanford, this isn't the time to get out _that_ book now, is it? Aren't you over reacting a little?" Cipher was not fleeing. He was just calmly stepping backwards with his hands out. This is called a 'tactical retreat,' thank you very much.

"A _little_?! I'll show you a little you shrunken little pyramid freak!"

"Hey I resemble that remark! Ack—" Cipher flattened his wings and ducked as a Bible went soaring over him.

"Are you out of your ever loving mind, Cipher!"

"It was a little flying, Stan! You're always telling the kid he needs to get out more and do kid stuff!"

"Flying on the back of a demonic force of the supernatural. _Is. NOT. __**KID STUFF!"**_

Each sentence was broken by holy runes now being lobbed at the demonic looking human. And the last sentence was the biggest attack of them all, going right through the window pane and shattering the glass. Bill thought he heard the startled cry of a goat but he ignored it, and twisted upside down from his perch in the rafters. His wings clutched the wooden beams and he glared lightly down at the old man.

"You better watch it, Pines. I'm almost back at full power! It wouldn't take much for you to vanish and never be heard from again." Cipher added a deadly, wide smile to his little bluff—Stan had no way of knowing he'd promised his kids he wouldn't do anything to harm their 'dear' Great Uncle.

Thinking back, Cipher muses he should have added a little fine print to that deal. Something like 'if YOUR uncle tries to kill ME first, I'm going to protect myself!'

It was a childish thing to think, but Stan had started.

"Get down here and fight me like a man!" Stan barked.

"_You_ come up _here_! Oh wait, you can't!" He added his trademark echoing laugh, which echoed off the ceiling and bounced round the room, no doubt pissing Stanford off even more. Goodie!

Cipher right himself and swung a leg over the beam he was straddling, perching up there happily.

"I don't see what the big fuss is, Stanny-boy. It was a night, no one saw us, and the kid—"

"The kid isn't going to _forget_ that."

Stanford's tone was low and almost quiet, and it was so far from the previous shouting the dream demon actually paused midsentence and looked down at the oldest Pines member. His eye half blinked, questioningly along with a little head tilt. Stan looked away and rubbed the back of his neck, moving over to take a heavy seat in his easy chair.

"This is Dipper, think about it. Flying _is_ dangerous. _Especially_ the way you do it. All it takes is one wrong move and the next thing I know I'm scrapping my great-nephew off a rock somewhere." A heavy sigh, Bill was still quiet, simply listening. "Worst part is, you don't just forget about something like flying like that. And he's already so damn curious."

"…I suppose." That was as close as they'd ever get to hearing Cipher agree with Stan, and both knew it.

Silence fell over the living room.

"He's gonna want to go out there again."

"He's probably out there now." Stan commented tiredly, not taking his eyes off the black tv screen. His voice was distant and lost in thought. Cipher nodded. He was.

Cipher was staring too, but his single eye was focusing on something no human could see. The current present. Just a little bit far away. Suddenly, Bill started droning,

"They're in the south forest, about 8 meters from here. Talking with the satyrs. Mabel's braiding ones hair, and Dipper's asking them questions and drawing them." Bill shook his head to clear his present sight spell and frowned a little at the thought of Dipper drawing someone other than _him_. Then he wondered briefly why it mattered so much to him. Hm, he'd have to look into that later.

Stan was quiet, and Cipher took the moment's rest to begin to scale down from the rafters and back onto the carpeting.

Stan eyed him, but made no move toward another bible. Something Cipher was secretly grateful for, because he was still a bit ill, and after this was going to stalk up into the attic and curl up in the first bed he found and _sleep_.

"You know. I'm waiting for the day."

Cipher paused over the threshold out of the living room, and glanced over his shoulder.

"You're waiting for quite a few days, Stanford Pines." Cipher pointed out, voice low and knowing. Stan turned to glare at him quietly, and he seemed much younger to the demon then. Time had a funny way of passing so differently for every species and sometimes Cipher forgot this was an old man he was looking at, and not the one from 40 or so years ago.

In 40 years, where would Dipper be?

"The day you finally show your true colors and go after them, you bastard."

Bill Cipher smiled his wicked crocodile smirk, lips showing pointed teeth and single ruby eye glinting with the stuff of nightmares. Even from where he saw the way Stan felt fear, and tensed a bit. He saw how Stan covered it too, impressively but nevertheless. The fear was there. As it should be.

"I'm _very_ sorry to inform you, but that will be a day you will never see. Sweet dreams, Stanford Pines." Cipher ended the sentence with a purr and stalked up the stairs.

He _knew_ Stan shuddered when he left the room. Cipher only smiled and on his next blink his eye was no longer scarlet.


	11. Demonic Equivalents

_**Prompt**__: GF prompt with babysitter bill-bill and mabel hanging out, just the two of them?_

_Gotta love fluff. (I wouldn't mind an angsty ask though.)_

_**Demonic Equivalents**_

* * *

Dream demons were mostly nocturnal. Not that they needed sleep, though what Bill called resting could be the demonic equivalent to human sleep, he supposed. He also knew for a fact the more a demon spent out of Hell or the dreamscape the more it mimicked the surrounding creatures in terms of diet, sleep and attitude. It was an old habit, one meant to let the demon blend into its new world and thus, do a better job of screwing things up from the inside. But the whole imitation problem was something he had to be especially careful about; since Bill's current space included two very rambunctious twins. He was a demon after all, and demons had their own way of doing things. He didn't want to get up one morning and ask Stanford for pancakes, no matter how good they were.

Bill had to be very careful he didn't lose his reputation as Gravity Fall's greatest, most horrifying nightmare.

One said twin trotted into their shared bedroom in the attic, and spotted the yellow triangle tucked up in a mess of sweaters, one of Dipper's hats and other assorted paraphernalia Bill had erh, _borrowed_ when he constructed the nest that sat on the bedside table. His body was pale yellow, and his top hat bobbed very slowly.

"Bill! Hey, Bill? Are you up?" Mabel called out happily, using her best (or was it worst?) inside voice. The triangle cracked open his one eye and scanned the room for her, and opened fully upon spotting her. His faded body brightened sharply as he moved into consciousness and floated up out of his nest.

"Shooting Star! I am now." He said mildly, "What can I do for you?" He straightened his floating top hat, tucking his thin black legs under him.

The girl giggled, braces glinting in the sun. "You always sound like a genie when you ask that, you dork." She teased gently. Bill gave her a playful, hurt look and then switched gears.

"I'm _way_ cooler than a genie Stargirl!" Bill twirled his cane round his arm and his bow tie moved out a bit. The demonic equivalents of puffing ones chest out.

"Sure are!" Mabel chirped matter of factly, and Bill's little shape seemed to swell with pride.

"Hey, so, Dipper and Soos are going guy stuff, and Grunkle Stan's running the shop and its Wendy's day off annnnd…uh, I was just…"

Bill watched her fiddle with her sweater sleeves a moment, his eye lidded as he watched in amusement. Mabel released her lower lip she was chewing on, and finally spit it out:

"I was wondering if you wanted to learn how to make a cake!" When he didn't fly into a rage or say no, she rushed on excitedly. "Since you liked that piece we brought you home so much, I can show you how to bake one, and frost it! And we can make fun fetti, or chocolate! Or vanilla _and_ chocolate which is called marble, or carrot cake! Any flavor really!" She added with a wide smile, as if that could hide her apprehension over asking the demon to _bake_ with her.

"I already know how to make a cake, Stargirl." Bill added, hoping he sounded apologetic enough. He really did mean it, which was strange.

"Oh…well, that's okay." Mabel deflated right before his very eye and it was…odd. So odd Cipher paused and floated back a little shock, because wow she looked so tiny and _pathetic_ like that, shoulders slouched in and eyes trained on the floor.

"Nevermind, Bill."

And with her head down like that, he couldn't see the sunlight hitting her braces and making that cool shiny effect.

Bill considered weighed his options for a split second.

"...wait a second. Did you say _cake_? Oh, no, I have _noooo_ idea how to make that! Doesn't it involve cheese and pencils, and maybe candle wax?" He asked, making a show of looking especially ponderous, hand up to his 'chin' and all. It worked, Mabel shot back up, smile returning.

"No, silly! It's eggs, and flour and—okay, you want to help me?!" she asked eagerly. It didn't even hit Bill to say no.

"Sure. But I call taste tester." Cipher's voice echoed smugly, _knowing_ Mabel would defend his title to the death against her brother and uncle. And those two caved _so badly_ when it came to the only girl in the cabin. (Of course, maybe Bill did too but he was ignoring that for now.) Mabel all but squealed in delight, and it was a rather cute sound, he supposed.

"Deal!" Mabel jumped up happily and grabbed his small hand.

Cipher was tugged down stairs, and he wondered what the demonic equivalent for a stomach ache was.

Because as much as he loved human food…Mabel _was_ an unconventional cook.


End file.
